Apps WorkOutDoors: New workout features

[iamasmith]

This definitely sounds like a bug with the Fitness app on the iPhone rather than anything else.

If we break it down..

1. Folks confirm the fitness data appears (you should be able to see this in the Health app) but the Fitness app doesn't display it.

2. The Fitness app _does_ display older workouts so it doesn't suggest that there's a change in format for the fitness data.

I'm wondering if it's just that the Fitness app is missing a trigger that there is new fitness data and maybe they changed that trigger with watchOS 7...?

What's the result of terminating the Fitness app and restarting it or, if that doesn't work, restarting the iPhone?

 

[cfc]

Something for me. I get the activity but no workout route, no splits and no heart rate. Just did a 7Km run workout.

I am using IOS14 and still WatchOS6.

On the WOD app on the iPhone I see all the data correctly but it does not copied correctly to Fitness app (old Activity app). I do not think it is related to the fact that I am still using WatchOS 6 as all the data gets to the iPhone perfectly.

Please check that you have given the app permission to write all the Health data. To do this go to the Settings app on the iPhone and tap Privacy then Health and then WorkOutDoors. Then scroll down and check that every setting is enabled. It could be that the iOS 14 beta lost some of the permissions.

Another possibility is that there is a very rare bug with iOS/watchOS where the permissions can be enabled but are not used correctly. So if the permissions are all set then please unset them, then reboot both the watch and the iPhone, and then reset all the permissions. This seems to force iOS to re-send the permissions to watchOS.

 

[ecstaticax]

Something for me. I get the activity but no workout route, no splits and no heart rate. Just did a 7Km run workout.

I am using IOS14 and still WatchOS6.

On the WOD app on the iPhone I see all the data correctly but it does not copied correctly to Fitness app (old Activity app). I do not think it is related to the fact that I am still using WatchOS 6 as all the data gets to the iPhone perfectly.

this is exactly my problem. Btw today it did a 4 hours ride to the mountains and WorkOutDoors was PERFECT. I think it’s an app that deserves a lot of fame because it’s much much much more useful than stock Apple workout app. It’s even better than my Garmin Forerunner 945.

 

[Sc0ward]

Something for me. I get the activity but no workout route, no splits and no heart rate. Just did a 7Km run workout.

I am using IOS14 and still WatchOS6.

On the WOD app on the iPhone I see all the data correctly but it does not copied correctly to Fitness app (old Activity app). I do not think it is related to the fact that I am still using WatchOS 6 as all the data gets to the iPhone perfectly.

I had this issue and it was because the activity location wasnt enabled also couldnt reenable its, had to un-pair and re-pair watch then worked straight away

 

[Nanning]

So I registered just to say that I really like the app. I really like the app.
Sometimes I get inverted color in the map, is this a bug or a setting? And I would really like to be able to connect a bicycle cadence sensor.

 

[cfc]

So I registered just to say that I really like the app. I really like the app.
Sometimes I get inverted color in the map, is this a bug or a setting? And I would really like to be able to connect a bicycle cadence sensor.

The inverted colours is a rare bug in watchOS 6 that affects some people more than others. In the latest version of WorkOutDoors you can fix it by zooming out until it looks ok and then zooming in again. I haven't yet heard of it happening with watchOS 7 so I am hoping that Apple have fixed it.

I will look into bicycle sensors at some time, but connecting to the Stryd footpod is top of the sensor list. If that goes well then I will move on to bike sensors.

I am glad that you really like the app!

 

[ecstaticax]

Hi, sometimes I use an ebike. While on my forerunner 945 and on the Bosch display (both connected to the cardio belt) the calories consumption value is correct, on Apple Watch and WOD the value is nearly tripled, as if the algorithm considers the speed and cadence and not heart rate.
the same happens with stock workout on watch. Is it possibile to modify the calories at the end of the workout?

 

[olegunnar]

Twisted-pixel requested a live comparison with previous workoutdoors for a given route to which cfc replied:

Not at the moment but I plan to add that in the future. It will then work in the same way as the existing Target Pace feature. This offers metrics showing the time or distance ahead or behind the target, and the target indicated by a moving dot on the map. The only difference will be that the target position can be calculated from a previous workout instead of using a constant pace.

In the meantime you could use the Target Pace with the average pace from a previous workout. It's not as good as the varying pace of a previous workout, but may help.

I've read through all 54 pages (yes, really), to see if this was a part of WorkOutDoors. It's mostly all I'm looking for with the rest just being a bonus. I've retired my Forerunner 305 due to convenience, but that's a feature I really, really miss.

 

[cfc]

Hi, sometimes I use an ebike. While on my forerunner 945 and on the Bosch display (both connected to the cardio belt) the calories consumption value is correct, on Apple Watch and WOD the value is nearly tripled, as if the algorithm considers the speed and cadence and not heart rate.
the same happens with stock workout on watch. Is it possibile to modify the calories at the end of the workout?

WOD uses the activity types and calorie calculations provided by Apple's workout system, which unfortunately only include one generic cycling activity.

The calories are calculated automatically by watchOS. It may be possible for the app to overwrite them but I am reluctant to implement that because allowing users to change the calories could open up a can of worms in terms of allowing them to "cheat" the activity system.

I suggest using the "Other Outdoor" activity for when you use your e-bike. This will calculate calories from your heart rate, and everything else should work the same. I wish Apple would add a specific e-bike activity that calculates calories from the heart rate, but they haven't even got separate road and mountain bike activities, so that is probably optimistic!

 

[cfc]

Twisted-pixel requested a live comparison with previous workoutdoors for a given route to which cfc replied:


I've read through all 54 pages (yes, really), to see if this was a part of WorkOutDoors. It's mostly all I'm looking for with the rest just being a bonus. I've retired my Forerunner 305 due to convenience, but that's a feature I really, really miss.

This is on my list of features to add. The two features at the top of my list after I release the next major version are Stryd and improving the route following functionality. At the moment routes are merely displayed and you can get alerts when you deviate from them, but there is no concept of knowing how far along a route you are. This means that the app cannot currently show estimated time/distance/ascent etc remaining or display elevation profiles showing how far along you are you are.

The reason I mention this is because implementing the "target workout" functionality would be very similar, with the route just being read from a workout file instead of a route file. The time aspect would be more important but from a coding point of view they are quite similar problems. As a result I will bear in mind the "target workout" feature when I improve the route following. If it makes sense to implement them both at the same time then I may do that, but I can't say at the moment.

Thanks for reading through all 54 pages of this thread! I am glad that you didn't spot the older thread with another 20 pages on the app...

 

[olegunnar]

Haha, oh dear. 54 pages was enough. Thank you for your answer. I'll probably buy your app anyway, as I'm unimpressed with Apples own offering, but target workout, as you call it, would be really nice.

 

[wargamer6]

Hi.

I’m really enjoying the app so far, but I am having an issue getting workouts to move my exercise ring.

Completed workouts are showing up in the app though.

 

[cfc]

Hi.

I’m really enjoying the app so far, but I am having an issue getting workouts to move my exercise ring.

Completed workouts are showing up in the app though.

The exercise minutes are controlled by Apple. They arbitrarily decide how much of your workout counts towards their exercise minutes total. They say that you need to be doing at least the equivalent of a "Brisk Walk", but plenty of people dispute this definition. If you Google it then you will find people complaining about it for all workout apps, including Apple's own app.

If you feel that you are doing the equivalent of a lot more than a brisk walk then it is worth rebooting the watch in case it is an issue with watchOS. However it is usually a case of Apple deciding that you aren't trying hard enough. Sorry about that. Glad you like the app though.

 

[wargamer6]

The exercise minutes are controlled by Apple. They arbitrarily decide how much of your workout counts towards their exercise minutes total. They say that you need to be doing at least the equivalent of a "Brisk Walk", but plenty of people dispute this definition. If you Google it then you will find people complaining about it for all workout apps, including Apple's own app.

If you feel that you are doing the equivalent of a lot more than a brisk walk then it is worth rebooting the watch in case it is an issue with watchOS. However it is usually a case of Apple deciding that you aren't trying hard enough. Sorry about that. Glad you like the app though.

Gotcha.

I just thought it was strange that apps like MapMyFitness or Cyclemeter would adjust it even if it was a couple minutes walk, but when I walked the dog it didn’t with this app nor the built in workout app.

 

[cfc]

Gotcha.

I just thought it was strange that apps like MapMyFitness or Cyclemeter would adjust it even if it was a couple minutes walk, but when I walked the dog it didn’t with this app nor the built in workout app.

I guess that Apple’s exercise minute algorithm didn’t consider your pace or heart rate high enough to be considered as exercise for that particular walk. If your dog is anything like mine then occasionally stopping to sniff something probably doesn’t help!

 

[pmxams]

Please check that you have given the app permission to write all the Health data. To do this go to the Settings app on the iPhone and tap Privacy then Health and then WorkOutDoors. Then scroll down and check that every setting is enabled. It could be that the iOS 14 beta lost some of the permissions.

Another possibility is that there is a very rare bug with iOS/watchOS where the permissions can be enabled but are not used correctly. So if the permissions are all set then please unset them, then reboot both the watch and the iPhone, and then reset all the permissions. This seems to force iOS to re-send the permissions to watchOS.

i tried all of this and it still does not work.... I even unpaired the watch and paired it again. Any more ideas? It only started with ios14. Before it worked perfectly

 

[cfc]

i tried all of this and it still does not work.... I even unpaired the watch and paired it again. Any more ideas? It only started with ios14. Before it worked perfectly

Maybe there is a rare bug with the iOS 14 beta. I suggest updating to the release versions of iOS 14 and watchOS 7 to see if that helps.

I have seen a few people on the web complaining about missing data for workouts generated with the native app, so I suspect there are some bugs in iOS 14 that Apple need to iron out.

 

[pmxams]

Maybe there is a rare bug with the iOS 14 beta. I suggest updating to the release versions of iOS 14 and watchOS 7 to see if that helps.

I have seen a few people on the web complaining about missing data for workouts generated with the native app, so I suspect there are some bugs in iOS 14 that Apple need to iron out.

you are probably right... workouts with native app get a bit more information but they still miss some of the information that was there before. Is anyone also having problems with the native app?

 

[ecstaticax]

you are probably right... workouts with native app get a bit more information but they still miss some of the information that was there before. Is anyone also having problems with the native app?

I'm having the same problems. Every GPS workout with stock app doens't appear on iOS Fitness App, even if calories and activity rings gets updated. If I use WorkOutDoors the bike workout gets imported. If I use the stock workout app to make a body building workout it gets imported. I had strange problems also with older workouts that now don't show the map anyomore.
Summary:

- No GPS workout gets imported into fitness iOS 14 app.
- Every other workout gets imported correctly.
- Older GPS workouts (even the ones from last years, two years ago and so on) don't show the gps route.

Today I called Apple. They asked me to test the watch with another iPhone. I also have another Watch (Watch 3) and it works perfectly. So it's a kind of problem between my AW5 and my iPhone 11 Pro. I will connect AW5 to another iPhone and try to investigate, then I will call Apple.
I will update my experience here if there are others interested.

 

[cfc]

I'm having the same problems. Every GPS workout with stock app doens't appear on iOS Fitness App, even if calories and activity rings gets updated. If I use WorkOutDoors the bike workout gets imported. If I use the stock workout app to make a body building workout it gets imported. I had strange problems also with older workouts that now don't show the map anyomore.
Summary:

- No GPS workout gets imported into fitness iOS 14 app.
- Every other workout gets imported correctly.
- Older GPS workouts (even the ones from last years, two years ago and so on) don't show the gps route.

Today I called Apple. They asked me to test the watch with another iPhone. I also have another Watch (Watch 3) and it works perfectly. So it's a kind of problem between my AW5 and my iPhone 11 Pro. I will connect AW5 to another iPhone and try to investigate, then I will call Apple.
I will update my experience here if there are others interested.

I think there are definitely issues with the release version of iOS 14, especially relating to workout routes. Hopefully things will become clearer soon!

 

[strangedesign13]

Maybe there is a rare bug with the iOS 14 beta. I suggest updating to the release versions of iOS 14 and watchOS 7 to see if that helps.

I have seen a few people on the web complaining about missing data for workouts generated with the native app, so I suspect there are some bugs in iOS 14 that Apple need to iron out.

So maybe I am having a different issue, but since early this week (iOS 14 Beta and Watch Beta 7) I don't get any heart rate in the Workoutdoors watch app. I upgraded to the full releases of IOS and Watch OS and still have the problem. I don't think it's iOS/Watch OS related though. All my other apps (Strava, Runkeeper, Native Workout App and Heartcast) all have no problem with the heart rate. I have done the things suggested above like device restarts, delete the watch app, redo permissions, etc. Nothing has worked, I was about to do a full uninstall of the iPhone app as well but wanted to see if there is some way to get logs or something that might be useful before I blow it all away and start from scratch.

 

[mgmooij]

So maybe I am having a different issue, but since early this week (iOS 14 Beta and Watch Beta 7) I don't get any heart rate in the Workoutdoors watch app. I upgraded to the full releases of IOS and Watch OS and still have the problem. I don't think it's iOS/Watch OS related though. All my other apps (Strava, Runkeeper, Native Workout App and Heartcast) all have no problem with the heart rate. I have done the things suggested above like device restarts, delete the watch app, redo permissions, etc. Nothing has worked, I was about to do a full uninstall of the iPhone app as well but wanted to see if there is some way to get logs or something that might be useful before I blow it all away and start from scratch.

Don’t know what’s going on, but this morning I did some HIIT exercises with WOD and I had normal HR readings on the watch and afterwards in the app and fitness-app of iPhone... I’m on all the newest updates and AW4.

 

[cfc]

So maybe I am having a different issue, but since early this week (iOS 14 Beta and Watch Beta 7) I don't get any heart rate in the Workoutdoors watch app. I upgraded to the full releases of IOS and Watch OS and still have the problem. I don't think it's iOS/Watch OS related though. All my other apps (Strava, Runkeeper, Native Workout App and Heartcast) all have no problem with the heart rate. I have done the things suggested above like device restarts, delete the watch app, redo permissions, etc. Nothing has worked, I was about to do a full uninstall of the iPhone app as well but wanted to see if there is some way to get logs or something that might be useful before I blow it all away and start from scratch.

Have you maybe got Workout Power Saving mode on? It probably isn't the reason because it would affect all workout apps, but it is the only other thing I can think of that would prevent the HR. Also, before you uninstall the iPhone app it is worth unpairing and re-pairing the watch to see if that helps. That is the last thing to try for strange issues before resorting to uninstalling the iPhone app.

If you do uninstall the iPhone app then first consider backing up all the workouts etc by using iTunes File Sharing to copy the files to a computer. You can then copy them back after re-installing: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201301

 

[cfc]

Don’t know what’s going on, but this morning I did some HIIT exercises with WOD and I had normal HR readings on the watch and afterwards in the app and fitness-app of iPhone... I’m on all the newest updates and AW4.

The iOS 14 issues only seem to affect a few people. I haven't had any problems with WOD, and only a couple of users have mentioned problems to me, but I have seen several reports for other apps today, especially Apple's app (presumably because the vast majority of people use it). The workout route data seems to be the most unreliable.

 

[michaelb5000]

I am a big fan of WOD and have used it extensively since you announced it here on the forum. Thank you for developing it. I am curious if you have looked at the always on altimeter and what that adds in terms of elevation tracking? Previous watches (I have an S3) have altimeters, which tracks elevation now. WOD will draw an elevation profile of my hike or ride, accurately showing the climb on the map. some of that may be GPS assisted, but some of the data (I think) is clearly coming from the altimeter. The preS6 watches also track flights climbed as a health metric.

There has been little discussion of the S6 always on altimeter, by Apple or in reviews, but the sales pitch seems to be that it would offer "better" tracking during a "hike". I am wondering if that is true, or if that is true only for users that are not using a workout app, like WOD, strava, or the built-in activity, that turns on elevation tracking with the older watches. I bought a S6 and will happily take better elevation tracking, but my guess is this will be better tracking of small changes, so fights of stairs in a building, and not for "hike" where it already worked.